Internet for Artists – Kumbaya Wrap-up

A college professor once went to see a Zen master to learn more about Zen. When the professor met her, he told the Zen master everything he knew about Zen — all the scriptures he had read, all the knowledge he had, all the facts and figures he knew. He said that he would like her to tell him all of her knowledge so that he could know everything there is to know about Zen. The Zen master responded by asking the professor if he would like some tea. The professor said that he would.

To which the master responded, “Like this cup, your mind is full. How can I teach you about Zen unless you first empty your cup, empty your mind?”

This weekend’s “Internet for Artists” workshop was a breakthrough of sorts for me. The rooms were filled with energy and creativity, and a sense of sharing. After spending a weekend with these artists, I can’t help but admire their dedication to their art. There is a discipline represented, that musicians don’t always have, which I can’t help but respect.

Being in a group of artists this weekend reminded me that it is still February Album Writing Month, whose month-long songwriting bootcamp is still in session. Tomorrow night is the 3rd year anniversary of the Brooklyn Songwriter Circle, and now that my 4-month entrepreneurial class with WIBO is done, I can return to this vibrant music community on Mondays. It’s time to set up this week’s songwriting session with my writing partner. And complete a personalized song commissioned for a pair of soulmates celebrating seven years together.

Gotta go! I have music to make.

For more information about the Internet for Artists workshop, visit http://Creative-Capital.org

*Meaning of Kumbaya, thanks to Wikipedia

Internet for Artists – Day 3

Ooh, the last day of our 3 day “Internet for Artists” workshop, and it ROCKED!!!

Reductive Artist Matthew Delegat started the day by teaching folks about WordPress blogs, and how to install it. I could have cried – WP is such a fantastic blog platform that can be learned in a few hours, and I was grateful that he was teaching artists how to fish by teaching them how to create a blog. LIBERATION!!

I’ve been to tons of internet workshops and rarely do you get tutorials on WordPress. Steve Lambert, one of the artist course leaders (not in attendance, but oft-quoted), has even built a theme for artists, WPFolio, an easy way to post your art portfolio on a WordPress blog. I’ve installed my share of a few WordPress blogs, and was still blown away at how easy WordPress is to teach newbies. Great idea!!

After that was “Sticky Websites”, which was led by public artist Eve Mosher and filmmaker/storyteller Michelle Halsell. This might have been my favorite session of the weekend, as Eve and Michelle took us through websites that are “sticky”, as in your eyeballs “stick” to the page. Sites such as Garbage Revolution, Learning to Love You More, and ceramicist Ayumi Horie were terrific examples of sticky websites that I look forward to revisiting (and studying! ;-))

Next up was Dread Scott’s session on “Generating Revenue”. Dread gave us a tour of Etsy.com, which is an option for the artist who also has drawings, jewelry, or other objects available. By the way, musicians are also selling their CDs on Etsy, so I’ll have to take a closer look.

He then turned us on to 20×200.com, a website curated by a gallery owner to sell art at multiple price points, from $50 to $3,000. I found this idea quite brilliant actually. Artists can sell their art, and “regular people” can afford to enjoy it. Simple and effective!

This session also covered crowdfunding, getting a group of your fans to donate to your project. We also learned about DJ Spooky (also known as artist Paul Miller) who built an iPhone app (and sold over a million of them). Dread then rounded out our session with eTicketing and affiliate income. Wow, having to type all this out now, I really realize how much info we got today!

THEN photographer Sue Schaffner taught a kick-ass session on “Being Efficient”. That woman has lots of tools and tricks up her sleeve! We learned about Merlin Mann’s “Inbox Zero” technique of email organization. I’ve been ignoring people’s tweets about “Inbox Zero” because the idea sounds impossible to me.

But since Sue gave the basic premise (Only 5 things to do with your emails when you receive them; If you can’t take action, why are you reading your email??), I have to give this technique a shot. So maybe one day I’ll be the one tweeting “Inbox Zero”! Don’t hold your breath, but it really seems like something I can actually do!

After lunch, we had one on one consultation sessions. I met with Sue Schaffner to talk about generating revenue tips. Even better, she gave me insight into grant applications for artists. Apparently New York Foundation of the Arts (NYFA) posts new grant opportunities each week. The Foundation Center is also a place online to discover grant opportunities. Only over the past few months have I started to explore what grants are all about, and I was pleased to learn from someone who’s received a number of them.

After my consultation, I went to the main room where the group was reviewing their notes. Eve Mosher invited me to share some of my music marketing lessons with the group, and thanks to the announcement made by the dashing Triple Edwards, most of the artists gathered round to listen. I shared a modified version of “The 4 C’s of the New Music Biz”, wanting to be mindful of the artists in the room who might find some of my promo tactics to be inappropriate to what they do. Thankfully, my talk was well-received, but it was easy. It felt more like a conversation with a group of people – my new friends!

Special thanks to Creative Capital, New York Foundation of the Arts (NYFA), Alyson Pou, Ann Marie Lonsdale, Rebekah Meola, and Jon Carrero at NYFA. It takes a lot of work to put a workshop like this together, and it is much appreciated! I’d also like to send a shout out to Liora Beer from Boston’s ARTMORPHEOUS who attended as an observer. She’s now interested in having an “Internet for Artists” workshop in Boston. Lucky them!

For more information about the Internet for Artists workshop, visit http://Creative-Capital.org